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February 28, 2007
UMBC Business Plan Competition Results
UMBC’s Alex. Brown Center for Entrepreneurship held its Business Plan Competition Monday, February 26. There were 18 teams (27 students) competing this year - a record number!
The Business Plan Competition is an opportunity for UMBC graduate and undergraduate students to experience the process of planning a business. Student participants write a comprehensive and realistic 2-3 page business plan. The proposals were scored against the following criteria: opportunity/market problem; solution/value proposition; marketplace and competition; marketing, sales and growth strategy; and compelling investment opportunity.
Judges for the competition were: David Fink, former entrepreneur-in-residence at techcenter@UMBC and current director of Entrepreneurial Initiatives at techcenter@UMBC; Greg Cangialosi ’96, entrepreneur and CEO, Blue Sky Factory; and Vivian Armor, director of the Alex. Brown Center for Entrepreneurship.
Entrants include 20 undergraduate students from the following majors:
American studies, biochemistry, computer science, economics, engineering, English, financial economics, information systems, mechanical engineering, political science, and psychology, and seven graduate students from the following programs: chemistry, computer science, information systems and mechanical engineering.
There was a tie for 1st place, and a tie between the next 2 best teams. Consequently, the Alex. Brown Center decided to give out four awards. If you know any of the following students, please be sure to congratulate them!
The first place winners are:
Company Name: Auto Soundtrack
Students: Sandorn Dornbush and Alark Joshi, both Ph.D. students in computer science
Idea: Use advanced artificial intelligence techniques to learn how a person’s music preference varies over time and external conditions. Auto Soundtrack learns its owner’s musical preferences for different activities, then automatically tailors the music selections accordingly (ex: plays fast music when a person is working out, calmer music when in the office, etc.). Prototype devices have been developed and Sandor and Alark are currently working on consumer applications. They recently partnered with Nokia Research to bring Auto Soundtrack to Nokia headsets.
Company Name: Phoenix Circuit Boards
Student: John Keyser, graduate student in mechanical engineering
Idea: Develop cutting edge aftermarket electronic control boards for paintball games to fill the niche market for high-performance, feature-packed boards. Paintball is a $1.5 billion dollar per year industry and is ranked as the third fastest growing extreme sport behind snowboarding and skateboarding. John currently has two boards in development.
The next two winning teams are:
Company Name: Biblogg
Student: Chiedozie Unachukwu, graduate student in information systems
Idea: Develop an online community designed to provide a staging ground for aggregation of content relevant to Christians. It will enable Christians from around the world to share experiences, news stories, their convictions, testimonies, prayer requests, etc. It will make it easier for churches, bible study groups and Christian organizations to stay connected, grow and make a difference.
Company Name: Green Passport
Student: Joba Adekanmbi, undergraduate student in financial economics
Idea: Develop a TV program that showcases the reality of life in the U.S. from the perspective of immigrants. The first series will run this fall in Nigeria. Adekanmbi has secured sponsorship from the Guinness Corporation to develop the series.
Posted by elewis at February 28, 2007 3:25 PM